BP restarts production at £4.4bn North Sea oilfield

BP has restarted production at a £4.4bn project in the North Sea that will return its operations in the maturing British oilfields to growth. It will also help BP double its current production in the North Sea to 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2020. Global energy companies have been selling assets in the mature North Sea basin, which has some of the highest costs of production in the world. BP and Shell were also among several oil majors that earlier this year won exploration licences in that part of the UK North Sea, which remains underdeveloped compared with the rest of the basin, although particularly hostile weather conditions complicate operations. Production in the UK North Sea returned to growth two years ago following a protracted period of decline between 2000 and 2015, but Oil & Gas UK has warned the region could decline again in the next decade unless further investments are made over the next two years.